


o children, lift up your voice.

by starbucks22



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hogwarts Fifth Year, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Ravenclaw Regulus Black
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29256315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starbucks22/pseuds/starbucks22
Summary: “You really won’t leave me?” Sirius eventually says, with his voice so quiet only his brother can hear him.“I promise,” Regulus whispers back. He means this with every bone in his body.AKA: It is the Marauders’ fifth year of Hogwarts; the kids are having an argument with each other that’s so extreme that they neglect one another almost completely– with nobody left to turn to when he needs it most, Sirius flees.
Relationships: Regulus Black & James Potter, Regulus Black & Lily Evans Potter, Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, Sirius Black & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and James Potter
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	o children, lift up your voice.

Regulus Black is supposed to be sorted into Slytherin house, like almost all of his family before him.

_("Auntie and Mama would be very... displeased with you, if you don't join Slytherin with Andromeda, Narcissa, and I. I don't think they could bare such a disappoint like that if you didn't,_ " His oldest cousin Bellatrix had said back in the beginning of the summer, with a grip on his arm tight enough to leave a mark. He found it wise not to comment how technically, he wouldn't even be in school with her, seeing as she was already twenty-one and had graduated years ago. He didn't say anything. He nodded; she smiled sweetly and let him go.

Her threat hasn't been the only one, it had just been one of the most chilling.)

So, he knows, in the way that someone can look up at a clear blue sky and announce, "Today, the sky is blue," that he absolutely, positively has to be in Slytherin. He knows that the threats he's recently received probably aren't necessary anyway; he was expecting to be the perfect fit for the house long before his relatives got all stressed out over it.

So, with all that in mind, that brings him to where he is now:

Sitting on a tall stool with the Sorting Hat resting on his head for over five minutes and counting, while in front of the entire school, in front of his brother Sirius and their older cousin Narcissa, and a multitude of Slytherin students that he knows he'll be joining any second now.

But, it is not to be.

The Sorting Hat has made its decision:

** "RAVENCLAW!" **

*

Regulus has never seen so large a room, full of hundreds of people, be so silent as it is now. All the way across the room, a redhead Gryffindor accidentally drops a quill out of her hand, and that's the loudest sound that anybody makes. Sitting beside the familiar looking redhead is a boy with wild hair and big glasses, who looks stunned. He swivels around to face the boy who's sitting next to him, but this one is actually someone Regulus knows: it's Sirius. 

Sirius knows just the same as anyone else in their family the necessity of Regulus being in Slytherin and playing the game– whatever game that is. Maybe politics, if he isn't too young for it. Even his parents aren't insane enough to drag an eleven-year-old into their battles, right? They're the adults, and not him. Originally, this had fallen to Sirius two years prior, but everyone knows how that went.

(Poorly. Very, very poorly. Tabloids all around Britain have picked up on the fraught tensions between Sirius, Mom, and Dad, and seemingly with Regulus as well. They smile all nice and pretty for the cameras, but when forced to make appearances together, all four of them, their faces are tense, their backs are stiff, they're standing as far apart from one another that is socially acceptable for such a supposedly warm, happy family. But of course, that was back when everyone was still in shock over Sirius' sorting, though they probably shouldn't have been, and that was just with their Public Faces on.

This past summer had been horrible. It was always worse inside than out.)

"Bloody hell," Regulus whispers, softly but with feeling. Feeling very much like his legs are jello, he stumbles off of the stool and over to the blue-and-silver clad Ravenclaw table. 

Slowly, finally, people start clapping as is customary for new recruits. However, it is not the Ravenclaw that have started it first- when he looks around the room to identify the loud clapping and enthusiastic cheering that rings around the room, he finds none other than his brother staring back at him. 

Staring right into Regulus' eyes, Sirius starts cheering all over again. 

*

Sirius, for all he's been known to be reckless, has also been known to be quite smart, and today is a prime example of that– he is the only child in the room to recognize that Regulus' face is full of fear, not nerves, and that the suspected excitement is pure shock. He can't help but stare at the Ravenclaw table, his mind whirring by at a mile a minute, as he watches his wide eyed little brother try and fail to clear off his plate.

"What are you staring at?"

Sirius doesn't pull his gaze away as he replies to his best friend– well, one of them– Remus Lupin. Remus, he figures, will catch on quickest. He nods his head toward the table he can't seem to look away from. Remus follows the direction of his eyes... but to no avail.

"I don't get it."

James, on the other hand, does. "How do you not get it?" the black haired boy asks as he chews on a handful of bread. Peter, sitting across from him, catches an eyeful of bread and promptly starts imitating a bird– most likely a duck. James tries to shove his other friend's face into a bowl full of steaming chili, and he very nearly succeeds. However, Peter is faster today, and he moves his head out of the way just in time. "He's probably staring at his brother."

"Oh right!" Peter says, as if he's just remembered that today, just less than an hour ago, a very notable thing occurred: for the first time ever in recent history, two members of the Black family did not get sorted into Slytherin; made even more remarkable is how they're going to school at the same time. "Right," he says, albeit a bit awkwardly, but no less supportive. "About that. How are you feeling?"

Sirius continues staring.

"I'll take that as 'not good'" Remus sarcastically remarks, still staring along with him. 

A couple minutes go by. 

James has finished his bread. Peter has stopped making duck noises.

"Y'know, I'm pretty sure the poor kid is going to notice the two of you dumbasses glaring holes into his head. He's brand new, it's just his first day! He doesn't need to think we're his enemies just yet–" he pauses, waiting for Sirius to pay attention to him. "Right?"

"Definitely right. He has enough of those now already."

If Remus and Peter hadn't been paying attention before that, they certainly are now.

Remus catches on, and he stops paying attention to the Ravenclaws to pay it all to the kid beside him. He makes sure to lower his voice. "You mean the older Slytherin kids, don't you?" _You mean your family?_ He thinks it but doesn't actually say it. 

He nods just the same. "Yeah, Narcissa and her slime ball of a boyfriend especially..." he trails off. While it's true that those two will likely pose a problem, they aren't the true problem, or the final boss. That position lies solely in their parents. "But he'll be okay. I'll make sure he will be... I just can't imagine he's doing the best right now."

"It's like you said, mate," James says, and moves around close enough that he can sling an arm around the other boy's shoulder. "You'll make sure that he will be. If he's got you, then everything will be fine."

*

And, for a couple of years, everything truly is. Regulus finds himself thriving in Hogwarts' environment. He does very well in his classes, he somehow manages to make friends in every House (the newer kids, like him, are really just that- kids), gets close to Sirius and his friends too by default, and just generally enjoys his life. He feels like this is what life is really supposed to be like; he feels like a normal kid. Even the summers aren't all that horrible; sure, they've been a mess ever since his Sorting, but he tells everyone who asks that he can take a bit of yelling if it means he can go back to Hogwarts in the end. (He does suspect sometimes that there's something worse or larger at play. The Muffliato charm gets used more and more often during the summers, though he obviously can never hear whatever it is that goes on downstairs those hot afternoons between his parents and his brother. A few times, he considered sneaking down there to see what was going on, and once he did try, but he was foiled by a sour faced Kreacher, and he never tried again. However, that was only the previous summer. Regulus is not to blame.

The boy is not his parents.)

All good things eventually come to an end, or change, and this peace or truce, perhaps, between himself and his parents, takes a turn for the worse during February in his third year, and in Sirius' fifth. 

(Regulus does not know, at the time, that his actions this cool February day will change the direction of his fate forever. He does not have to know.)

"Hey guys!" He calls out, yawning, as he makes his way past the Gryffindor table and over to the near empty Ravenclaw one. He receives a few sleepy 'hello's' in response, and doesn't think anything of it. 

He has classes with the four trouble making Gryffindor boys he's grudgingly become awfully fond of, so he figures they'll just sit around and talk after. They'll discuss plans for the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend; it'll be his first one, and he is beyond excited for it. He's been told all about it and its wonders from the older boys, and he kind of doubts they'd be putting him on about something like this. After all, it wouldn't even make a good prank, so he knows they wouldn't bother with it.

The last class they have together that day is Potions.

_Where has Sirius been today?_ he scribbles out on an old piece of parchment paper and slides it off to Remus. Remus accepts it, doesn't open it, and passes it off to Peter, who tosses it at James' head. 

Regulus shakes his head. 'You're all children,' he mouths. James rolls his eyes and unfurls the paper. Regulus can see him reading it, can see him write a reply and send it off the opposite way it came: it goes from James, to Peter, to Remus, then finally back to Regulus.

** I have no idea.  **

The third year frowns. That's it? He looks over at James, who shrugs at him and looks down at his notes. 'I have no idea' is never something Sirius or James say about one another, unless this is one of the rather rare times that they've had a fight. Usually, when that happens, they go their separate ways for a little while, get all mopey a few days later, and eventually find their way back to one another, typically by the end of the week, and in even more special cases, by the end of two. He at first assumes that this is one of those times, until his brain kicks back on and he realizes that, even whilst fighting, they knew where to find each other. After all, if you're avoiding someone, you need to know where not to go. 

_ What do you mean you don't know? When was the last time you saw him?  _

He sends it back up the grapevine. Come to think of it though, he hasn't seen Sirius accompanied with all three of the other boys in weeks. He's seen them all separately, and he's seen them in various combinations: Peter and James, James and Sirius, Peter and Sirius (though that was only once), James and Remus, Remus and Peter, Remus and Lily Evans, and one time, Peter and Lily Evans. Outwardly, everything appears normal, but if everything was as normal as it seems, then why does James, Sirius' best friend, have no idea where he is?

This must be a big fight. 

** Don't know. Probably last week? I think Peter saw him in the Great Hall back then. **

Now, that's odd. How could he just not know? They live together nine months out of the year, if not more, so how could he just not know?

_ Peter saw and you didn't? _

This is going nowhere, so he changes tactics.

_ Remus, where's Sirius? James says he hasn't seen him since last week, and that wasn't even him, it was Peter. Have you seen him?  _

This attempt at information leaves him with more questions than answers. This is the note he receives:

That's probably because I haven't seen him in two weeks. He hasn't been sleeping in the dorms since three weeks ago. Peter and Lily have been in constant contact with him, though I guess you haven't, so try them if you need to know where he is. 

Honestly, fuck all of them. 

_I've been contacting him, of course. When I didn't see him climbing all over you, and vice versa, I figured he must have gotten sick. Of course, that was days ago. He wouldn't be still sick by now, and if he was, he would certainly be in his dorms. Now you're saying he hasn't been. What's going on?_

Ask him yourself. Or ask Peter or Lily. I don't know where he is.

Regulus doesn't know how he knows, but he knows that's absolute bullshit.

He also knows that this isn't a normal fight, either. 

Something is seriously wrong. 

*

Lily Evans, as it turns out, is amazing.

"I'd tell you I love you, but I don't really know you," Regulus calls out toward her as he races away to where Lily reported Sirius would be. He isn't sure why she would know when he, James, or Remus wouldn't, but he assumes it's a part of the mysterious fight that's going around. 

When he opens the door to an abandoned classroom, he both does and doesn't find what he expects.

What he  does  expect is that his brother is there, as previously predicted.

He doesn't expect his brother to be sprawled out on the floor, seemingly asleep, with a red gash on his forehead, a bruise under his eye, a hand that doesn't seem to stop twitching, and who knows what else. That's just what Regulus can see at the moment. 

"What in Merlin's name." His eyes are wide as he stares down at the crumpled form that is the fifth year student, and his second thought after that is how did nobody notice? How did none of his so called friends not stop to check in on him, even if they're in a fight? What on Earth could have possibly happened? Is this brand new or is it not? 

Sirius, as it turns out, actually isn't asleep, or if he was, then it wasn't a very deep one. Yawning, he sits up and finds himself staring into the stunned eyes of his puzzled little brother.

"Oh. Hi, Reg."

"'Oh, hi,'" Regulus repeats mockingly. "That's it? You're hurt, apparently not sick, haven't been to class, almost nobody knows where the fuck you are, and that's all I get? A 'oh, hey.' What's going on here?"

"You thought I was sick?"

" That  is the part you're choosing to focus on right now? You're hurt! Why are you hurt!"

“Aw, Reg, you sound like you care.”

“Just answer the question,” he snaps. “Peter saw you last week and I think he would mention if you looked like  this,  but he didn’t. Oh, also, apparently you’re not even staying in your dorm anymore? What is going on?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“ _Don’t_ _ worry about-“ _

“Peter didn’t see any scrapes or anything on me because I was hiding it from him. From all of them.”

“Why were you hiding it? You’ve never hid getting hurt before.” This is true. Sirius has known to get scrapes and scratches from getting into fights, typically with some older Slytherins. Maybe that’s what this is? “Why would you bother doing it now?”

“This is a bit different than usual.”

“How? And why weren’t you in your dorm? And why do almost none of your best friends have any idea where you are?”

“Because only Peter has the Map, and he’s been telling Lily.”

That explains exactly nothing. What map?Never mind. I’ll just ask about it later.  “You aren’t answering me. Why haven’t you been in your dorm room? Why does nobody know where you are?”

Sirius looks away. He’s fiddling with a red and gold blanket. 

Another question hits Regulus. “Wait, do any of the teachers even know that you’re here?”

He shakes his head. “And I’m not going to tell them.”

“How long do you think this can continue? Obviously you got caught.”

“‘Till the end of the school year, at least.”

“Until June? You’re dreaming.”

“Not really. The only reason I even got caught today was because you realized I’m not sick. The others already knew that I’m not, and they didn’t come looking– not that I blame them.”

“‘Not that I blame them.’ Well, I do! They have to know something’s wrong, because you haven’t been with them since when? Three weeks ago? This isn’t normal. They know something is wrong, because Remus is being cagey with me, James is really mopey, and Peter is the only one who seems to be acting perfectly normal. Also, why is Lily Evans involved? I thought she hated all of you? Why are none of your friends coming after you?”

“Don’t ask them about it.”

“Do any of them even know that you’re hurt?”

“No.”

Well, at least they aren’t ignoring him while knowing he’s hurt.  “How long have you been like,” he motions up and down his brother’s likely very bruised body, “This, for?”

Sirius seems to hesitate for the first time; to truly hesitate. He noticeably stiffens up, shakes his head, and stands up, ready to bolt. He doesn’t even come close to getting away with it; Regulus blocks the doorway, and he’s, for once, the much stronger one. 

It's disconcerting.

"No!" Regulus grips his brother's arm tightly; he's concerned to hear Sirius hiss and step away. Regulus drops his arm like it's on fire; but, unlike he would with fire, he does not avoid Sirius. He steps closer. Sirius steps back.

When their eyes meet again, Sirius has no snarky words left to give, and  that  is when Regulus really starts getting scared. 

"Sirius," he says, voice low and serious. He doesn't move another inch. "Are you okay?"

For a beat, there's nothing but tense silence between them.

"Don't–" Sirius eventually chokes out, but he cuts himself off before he can continue. He shakes his head when Regulus turns concerned eyes back upon him. "Don't go home for Easter."

_What?_ "What?"

_What does this have to do with anything,_ Regulus thinks,  _I'm just trying to figure out why my brother is so hurt so all of a sudden–_

Wait. 

_No_. 

He feels like he knows the answer already, but he asks the question anyway. "Why don't you want me to go home? Is it... Sirius. Look at me."

He doesn't.

" Look at me,"  the younger of the two says then, much more urgently. This time, Sirius does. "Good. Now answer me. Do you not want me to go home because... whatever happened to you, happened there?"

There's more silence.

"Who did it? Was it Bellatrix? Was it Narcissa?" He doesn't really see it being Narcissa, but he needs to cover all of the bases.

"No, not them."

" _When_ was it? If you were carrying those injuries around all year, even you aren't powerful enough to hide it that long."

"Christmas break," Sirius croaks. He still won't look at Regulus. "It was. It was Christmas break."

"But how? I was at home during Christmas break, same as you, and I didn't hear a thing!"

"They used the  Muffliato  charm. They have been, for a while now. Since I got Sorted into Gryffindor. You didn't hear a thing because they didn't want you to, and I was too helpless to stop them."

_Since I got Sorted into Gryffindor..._ "None of our cousins were home this Christmas break," Regulus says, drawn out slowly. Realization is starting to dawn, and he wishes more than anything that it wasn't. His lips part, forming a round  o  of pure shock; he can feel his jaw dropping, and he doesn't bother to mask his surprise. "...It was just you, me, and our parents."

Sirius braves a glance at his brother. All he does at first is stare, but eventually... eventually, he nods.

"I– Why didn't you tell me?"

He motions up at his injured face. He's still scarily quiet, if not more so now that Regulus knows. "I didn't want you to get hurt."

"They'd really- no, never mind that, apparently they would. Why did they do it?"

He shrugs, then changes his mind and grips the Gryffindor tie that's still loosely tied around his throat. 

"Right. Next break is the Easter one, you said?"

He nods.

"Okay. I can tell that something big must have happened for you not to be on good terms with your friends, but surely they'd get over it for something like this, right?"

He shakes his head. "No, Reg, I know what you're thinking, but don't tell them. They don't need to know."

Regulus thinks differently. "They  do  need to know. They need to help me get you out, I can't do it by myself."

"Get me–  no,  do  not  do that."

"Are you insane? Of course I'm going to do that."

"You can't! If you do, then you'll be there, at home, alone with them. You can't do it, you won't be safe. I need you to be safe."

"You really are insane," Regulus says, after a solid minute goes by. They are temporally at an impasse. That is, until he speaks up again. "Do you think... would you agree, if I came with you?"

Sirius' head snaps up. "What?"

"Yeah. Would you be more willing to leave that way?"

"Of bloody course I would be! But can we really risk that? Do you really think it would work?"

"Sirius, just a couple minutes ago you refused to save yourself so you could stay behind to save me instead, and nothing has even happened to me. You're my brother, and I love you. I'm going to help you."

Sirius, feeling more loved and supported than he has in weeks, reaches forward to bring Regulus into a hug, one that his younger brother does not hesitate to reciprocate.

That’s how Peter Pettigrew– armed only with a wand that doesn’t even look to be his, Lily Evans, and a map– finds them.

His eyes trail Sirius up and down.

“What the fuck.”

*

“What the  _fuck_ ,”  Peter repeats, softly but with feeling. “I saw you last week and you weren’t hurt. What happened?”

Regulus opens his mouth. Sirius slaps his arm, shaking his head. Regulus opens his mouth again.

“Well, you see-“

“Don’t tell him!”

“He has to know!”

“No, he doesn’t!”

“Sirius! You agreed to let me help!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think that meant telling the others what’s going on!”

“What did you  think  it meant? You’re acting like this, and I haven’t even made it to McGonagall yet!”

“ Regulus, stop it-“

“Are those bruises?”

Startled, the brothers stop bickering.

“Are those bruises?” Lily Evans repeats, sounding stern. “Black–“ both of them look up, so she pauses. “That doesn’t work,” she mumbles, before raising her voice back to its normal volume and correcting herself. “Sorry.  Sirius.  Why are you bruised?”

“Why do you care? You rarely talk to me, it’s not like you’re my friend,” he shoots back, trying to deflect. It does not work. 

“No,” an unphased Lily replies, “I may not be yours yet, but I’m Remus’ friend.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

“Lily might not be your friend yet, but  I  am. What happened?” Peter finally lowers the wand that may or may not be his as he joins Sirius on the floor. “You can tell me, you know that. Does James already know?” He says that last part with an expecting tilt to his voice, like he already knows the answer but he’s just asking to be sure. 

He does not know the answer.

“No. And I’m not going to tell him, either.”

Peter blinks. “What? You can’t be serious– oh, shit please no.”

He waits.

Sirius does not make the name pun, does not make the joke.

“Oh...” Peter says, looking almost as concerned as Regulus does. “This is legitimately bad, isn’t it? This isn’t just backlash from the Slytherins or some prank gone wrong?”

Regulus nods. “You need to get Potter.”

Sirius gawks beside him. “Fuck you! Do not do that, Peter!”

“Peter! Call Potter in here,  now!”

“Peter,  don’t listen to Regulus, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“I damn well do so! I’m trying to keep you safe, and getting him will only help you, especially if the poor dude ends up with the two of us dumped onto his doorstep. He’ll be significantly less shocked if we actually explain things ahead of time. I can even do it with you out of the room, if that’ll make you feel better, or sit with you while you do the taking, or gather everyone who needs to be notified all at once so we have that part done in one fowl swoop. Something has to happen. Things can’t stay like this.”

For a moment, nobody speaks: it’s just Regulus, Sirius, and Peter sharing space on the floor together, with a hovering Lily Evans staring at them all, waiting for something,  anything,  to happen.

“You really won’t leave me?” Sirius eventually says, with his voice so quiet only his brother can hear him. 

“I promise,” Regulus whispers back. He means this with every bone in his body. He would take Veritaserum right now if it would help Sirius see his sincerity, but it luckily does not come to that.

“When can you help me gather everyone?”

“The moment classes let out for the day– or at least, when the ones Professor McGonagall is teaching are.”

“They’re already over,” Lily reports. “I can help you round people up if you’re amiable to that.”

Regulus looks at Sirius, who nods.

“Who all do we need, do you think? Aside from Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore, I mean?” he asks the older boy. “Think about it.”

Peter’s eyes are blazing and stubborn– on any other day, they’d match Sirius’ in intensity. ( _If he’s reacting like this, what’s Potter going to do?_ Regulus asks himself.) “I’m going to be there.” 

Sirius blinks. He wasn’t expecting that, or at least not it being said so demandingly.  Damn, Pete.  “Uh, okay. So you, the professors–“

“Me,” Regulus puts in, just to really drill in the idea that he’s not going anywhere. 

“You, clearly. James... hm.”

“Uh, forgetting someone?” Lily asks.

“I didn’t know you wanted to be involved,” Sirius rolls his eyes at her.

“Not  me,  Sirius.  Remus.”

“No.”

“The fuck you mean no? He’s one of your best friends!”

“Who is currently pissed off at me, and rightly so. I don’t need to make things worse by making him see me. I haven’t even been in our dorm room so I don’t make things harder on him.”

“We’re circling back to that,” Regulus and Lily chorus as one. Lily shoots him an approving look before she keeps talking.

“Sirius, this– whatever this is– it’s not something he’ll want to be out of the loop on, no matter what’s going on between the two of you. You’re hurt, for whatever reason, and it makes a difference. Now that we have that settled, unless you have any other reasons not to of course, I’m going to go grab Remus and take him to Professor McGonagall’s office. Okay?” She heads for the door, Peter not behind her, when she hears what is basically the only thing she was not expecting to hear at this point:

“It’s my parents.”

She stops right in front of the door, with her hand and her fingers curling around the doorknob. Slowly, she turns herself around. Did she really hear that correctly? “...What did you just say?”

“It’s my parents,” Sirius repeats. When Lily stares at him, eyes wide, Regulus raises to his feet; his wand is now in hand.

“This doesn’t need to get out to anyone who Sirius hasn’t already agreed upon. Keep in mind that if anyone new finds out about any of this that neither Sirius or I talked to ourselves, I’ll know  exactly who told. Got it?” 

“She’s a good person, Regulus,” Peter defends her from his position on the floor. “She won’t do anything that cruel.”

“Look, buddy, I don’t even know how much I trust  you  yet, and I spend a lot of time with you, so kindly lay off. Evans, do we have an understanding?”

Lily nods. She looks rather confused and solemn, but she goes along with it without hesitating. “Yes, I understand. Can I help or should I go?”

Regulus looks at Sirius, who shrugs. 

“I just want to get this over with already,” he says. “If you can help this go along faster, thenyou might as well just hurry it up.”

Lily nods again, and heads for the door for the second time. “I’m just saying, Sirius... I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised how Remus still thinks about you.”

Then, she’s gone. 

*

Lily, through a pure stroke of luck, finds Remus before he can run off to his last class of the day, which is an elective that none of the others share with him. It’s the only class he doesn’t have any of his main friend group in. “Remus! Remus, wait! Stop!”

Remus, who’s just about to exit the Great Hall, obeys. “Why are you running?”

“We don’t have the time for questions,” she replies rather evasively.

“Oh  Merlin,”  Remus groans, “Did you finally let James pull you into one of his pranks?”

“Actually, Potter has nothing to do with this.”Lily pauses for long enough to brace herself for impact. “So, here’s the thing.”

Remus has never been known for being stupid. “Oh for– Lily, really? What did Sirius get you roped into? And how did you not see through whatever it is immediately?”

“Um. Yeah, about that.”

Remus squints at her. “You’re acting weird. What’s going on?”

“He’s actually pretty hurt and we don’t know the extent of it and he won’t tell us why but all we know is that Regulus knows what’s happening but he won’t tell us until everyone is gathered together and Sirius actually told me not to get you because he’s convinced you hate him forever the end and I had to practically beg him into it and  he didn’t even tell Potter–  and it was so  bad,  Remus, I’ve never seen him that tore up before.” Her words come tumbling out of her mouth almost faster than she can even think them, she’s so worried. “And Peter made sure to ask that it’s not a prank or him starting something, and it’s not. But whatever it is worried Regulus so much that he’s going straight to Professor Dumbledore about it.”

“...Did you just say that James has no idea what’s going on, but Regulus does, and he’s willingly going to an adult about this?”

“Yes. Are you coming?”

Remus grabs his bag. “I have class in ten minutes.”

Lily eyes him skeptically; even as he says he has class, he’s shoving his books into his bag as he walks  away  from the classroom. “So, you’re coming, then?”

“Absolutely. Do we just go to Dumbledore? Is that where Sirius is?”

“Probably on the way there, yeah. I think Regulus is legitimately going to drag him there if need be. Next we need to find Potter and hope that he doesn’t try his whole flirting shebang right now. We do not have the time for it.”

“I’ll handle it.” 

Remus turns around and heads back into the Great Hall; it takes him no time at all to find James, whisper in his ear, and head back out again, this time with his friend in tow.

James looks at Lily as they head toward Dumbledore’s office, and she mentally braces herself– but he doesn’t even slightly care about flirting with her right now. “Evans, Remus said that Regulus seems to know what’s going on here?”

“Yes,” Lily replies, trying not to get irritated. That’s the second person today that seems SO shocked Regulus might know something they don’t– does everyone just forget Regulus is Sirius’ brother? “Why does this seem like such a big deal to everyone today?”

“It’s not that that in and of itself is such a big thing, but keep in mind that Sirius tells me  everything.  And I’m not even exaggerating, Evans.”

Lily side eyes Remus. Remus nods at her.

“It’s true,” he says. “So I can’t be too sure why Sirius wouldn’t tell James now–“

“Well, maybe because he doesn’t want to cause more trouble. That’s basically what he said in front of me,” Lily informs.

“Doesn’t matter. No matter how we’re getting along, we always find a way to know if something important is going on with one of our own. No matter what. So, the fact that he didn’t tell James but apparently told Regulus, is concerning.”

It is then, almost to the headmaster’s office, that Lily accidentally gets to the heart of the matter with nothing more than a flippant comment. “I don’t know. Maybe it all has something to do with his family.”

Behind her, James and Remus stop walking.

“What is it?” Lily calls once she realizes they aren’t following her.

“We’re so stupid,” James breathes, basically ignoring Lily’s presence entirely. This is the entirely wrong situation for Lily to be happy about that, though. It just makes her worry more. 

“Guys?”

“We didn’t ask we didn’t think how did we not think to check for Glamour charms! And why did Regulus just not tell us anything?”

“Because I’ve been mad with Sirius, Sirius probably didn’t want to tell me, but he knew if he told you then you’d tell me and the whole cycle would go again but–“

“How did he just not know that I’d take care of him if things went sideways? And how bad are we talking here?” James replies anxiously.

“And what if we’re completely wrong? What if it’s better than what we’re expecting? But what if it’s  worse?”

“Maybe,” Lily begins, with the air of someone who is not merely ‘suggesting’ what they think the right thing to do is, “Maybe both of you should calm down and take a deep breath. We can head inside, and everything will get explained to you.”

*

Everything does indeed get explained to them.

“So, I’m sorry,” Sirius says, randomly, after he’s told them all what’s going on. “And, Regulus, this isn’t going to do anything. I played nice, I told the adults, the end. Thank you and goodnight. Can I go to bed now?”

“You can’t do that,” Remus spontaneously says. 

The whole room goes silent as one, most if not all of them aware that these two have not spoken in weeks, if not a month by now. 

Sirius stares at the other boy, eyes squinted and eyebrows furrowed in genuine confusion. He’s sleeping in some random room just so he won’t be an inconvenience, and it’s been working. There is literally no way he’s messed something up again. “Um... what?”

“I said,” Remus repeats, stepping closer to Sirius, who still looks puzzled. “You can’t do that. You’ve been sleeping in an empty room. You can’t go to bed because you  haven’t been.”

“Yes... I’m aware of this... what is your point?”

“Well, obviously you can’t keep doing this! How long has it really been going on?”

“Three weeks. A month? Something like that. And why can’t I keep doing it? It’s been suiting me just fine.” Sirius crosses his arms tightly, but that’s pretty normal. 

“Because, you dumbass! From what I’m hearing, you’re not functioning! Barely sleeping, barely eating–“

Sirius and Regulus both say something to that. “I didn’t mention eating.”

Remus steps forward three more times. His face is intense. (Not as much so as James’, because that’s hard to beat, but almost just as much.) “It’s not hard to see that you’re getting thinner. A well placed Glamor charm won’t hide that, because even though you are talented, you’re no professional.”

Sirius opens his mouth, prepared to argue with Remus, but he doesn’t get his chance; Lily is pushing Remus out of the way, fury practically rushing out of her. Peter and Remus, her actual friends, don’t seem to be worried about this; neither does James, but he’s never fazed by it anyway. They know that this all comes out of concern, today.

Sirius and Regulus, on the other hand?

“You’re not sleeping, you’re not eating, your grades are terrible! I know I’m not attached to your hip like the rest of these are, but that doesn’t mean I’m not paying attention. I didn’t get a hold of your magical Map just because Potter here has an obsession over me. At first we all thought you just felt guilty, but as it turns out, it’s something much stronger– somehow not even Regulus knew about it? We all know you feel bad over the incident a while back, Sirius, but please! You must have known that you could at least rely on James here, right?”

Sirius, with wide eyes and a stiff back does not respond, even once when it becomes clear Lily is done ranting and her previously shrill voice is returning back to normal; unfortunately, she sees this but does not interpret it well, so she makes the regretful move of trying to move in close, perhaps to make her point more impactful. 

Instead what happens is that Sirius ducks away from her so quickly that, in an attempt to get away from her, he turns too quickly, bowls his brother to the floor, catches a hold of James’ shirt, and winds up in a wild clash of limbs that ends with him rushing for the door, a now recovered Regulus leaping on him, a frazzled Lily looking as though she regrets all of her life decisions, Peter quietly slipping away, all of the adults in the room rushing into action far too late, and Remus trying to command them all to a halt. 

“STOP!” Remus screeches. Startled, the other teenagers actually listen to him. He takes a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s all calm down for a second.”

Most do. Sirius is still eying the door distrustfully, but he eventually obeys. 

“Miss Evans,” McGonagall begins. The teenagers all jolt, having mostly forgotten she was even there. “I think you can hold off on lecturing Mr. Black, yes? And Mr. Black, I really feel you should go back to your dorm mates.”

“And what about our parents?” Regulus asks. “What will be done about them? Something will be, won’t it?” His eyes are practically screaming the words he’s hesitant to, since she’s an instructor:  don’t fuck this up for Sirius. 

McGonagall immediately looks appalled. “Well, of course! Who do you think I am? Neither of you will be returning home, so get that in your heads quickly. You both might need to speak to some Aurors, so just be as detailed and truthful as you can manage when they get here; as long as you do that, we should run into no problems.”

“What about custody?” Peter asks. “Since they’re both still minors?”

“I doubt that’ll be too much of an issue to work around, Mr. Pettigrew. I’m not worried about it.”

“Actually, he has a point. That might be the thing that takes the longest,” Regulus says, in a considering tone of voice. He’s just now realized this could be something he’ll need to deal with. He didn’t realize that himself and Sirius might be forced on some strangers they’ve never heard of in their lives. 

“Stay with me,” Remus and James say as one, as if either of them are in any place to offer their best friends– all of which are minors– any custody arrangements. 

“I don’t think you’re in charge of that,” Sirius points out. “You’re just as old as I am, idiots. You’d have to talk to your parents, and that would never work out.”

Remus shrugs. “I was going to talk to send them a letter today anyway.”

James grins. “Jokes on you. My parents love you.”

Sirius’ lips twist like he’s trying not to laugh at him. “How is that possibly a joke on me?”

“Because you’re saying it wouldn’t work out! I’m telling you mate, it’ll work out great!”

“Do you really have room for two extra people? Even if you do, you can’t just ask your parents to take custody of some kid they sort of know, and some kid they’ve never even met before!”

James raises an eyebrow at him, and the challenging glint in his eyes is as familiar as a thing can be. It takes the others a few seconds to realize that James is inching toward the fireplace. “Wanna bet?”

Regulus groans. He may be new (ish) to the insanity that is James Potter, but he already knows where this is headed. “Do  not  interrupt your poor, innocent parents, who are probably at  work,  with something like this. You can just send them a letter like a normal person! If you Floo them right now with zero context, they’ll probably think you’re being expelled.”

“Then we’ll explain! Problem solved!”

Regulus looks at Sirius. “Is he really going to do this?”

Sirius shrugs. “You know how he gets.”

Ignoring them both, James looks over at McGonagall, who nods at steps aside. James wastes no time in popping his head through the Floo. 

“James, what did you do now?” a male voice carries through the other end. “Are you expelled?”

Regulus snorts. “Called it,” he mutters.

“And who is that? Did you get into a fight, James?!” This time, it’s a woman speaking.

Sirius shakes his head even though they can’t see him. 

“Hello,” McGonagall greets them calmly. “You should probably step on through if you have the time. There are some matters we need to discuss.”

“He really is expelled, isn’t he?” the male voice mutters. “We’re coming through now.”

The first thing the elder Potters see once they arrive is Sirius, who is still very visibly bruised.

“SIRIUS!” The adults bellow, much too loudly. 

“Halt!” Sirius barely stops his brother from stepping forward protectively; he knows he doesn’t need protecting from these people, and he wants Regulus to realize they can be safe with the entire Potter family, not only James. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Potter. You don’t need to worry, I’m alright.”

That does not sound as reassuring as he thought it would.

“Of course we’re going to worry!” Mrs. Potter cries. “What happened to you? And when?”

Sirius fidgets. “Uh yeah. About that.”

Again, Regulus steps forward. Sirius lets him this time. It probably helps that Regulus no longer looks as if he’s about to fight them. 

“Hello. You must be James’ parents.”

“Yes, we are. My name is Euphemia, and this is my husband Fleamont. It’s nice to meet you...?”

“It’s nice to meet you too, ma’am,” he says, momentarily forgetting an important part of introducing yourself... as in, saying his name.

She stares at him, waiting.

“Oh!” Regulus jolts. “I’m so sorry. My name is Regulus. Pleasure to meet you!” Hurriedly, he sticks his hand out for the adults to shake. 

“Yeah yeah yeah if we’re done being polite can we get down to this now?” James asks. He pushes past the brothers and hugs his still confused parents.

“Why are we here?” Euphemia asks, which is a valid question. “If nobody got into any fights– other than Sirius, I suppose– I can’t see why we’ve been called in.”

“That’s actually why you’re here, Mom. Sirius didn’t get into a fight.”

“He has bruises.”

“You’re here because someone needs to take custody of Sirius and Regulus– also, it’s not classified as a fight if it’s your bloody  parents  and you can’t fight back!” James, completely forgetting all subtly, manners, and just any and all tact, blurts out with all the gracefulness of a drunk teenager on steroids. When everyone stares at him, shocked, he realizes his mistake. “...Oh.”

Sirius and Regulus, behind him, face palm so strongly the entire room can hear it. 

“What your son here has tried to say, is unfortunately correct.”

“He sure could have worded it differently,” Regulus grumps. Sirius, by the discontent look on his face, doesn’t seem to disagree. “But that’s besides the point. Now you know what’s going on. Where do you need to go from here?”

Euphemia and Fleamont let their gazes go fluttering around back and forth in between the two kids, before blinking at their own son, who stands there strong and fierce, fully prepared to kick up a fight with his own parents if they won’t– at the very least– consider taking his friends in. 

In the end, it isn’t much of a choice to make.

Euphemia steps forward, smiling softly, with Fleamont grinning in solidarity with her. Euphemia cradles Sirius’ head in her hands while Fleamont presses closer to a hesitant looking Regulus.

“You’ll be at home with us, boys,” Euphemia says, looking at both Sirius and Regulus. Her voice sounds not too unlike a soft melody. “You’ll be perfectly at home.”


End file.
